Bill Offers Dna Test To Inmates

May 1, 2001|By Scott Wyman Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — Death Row inmates and people convicted of other serious crimes will have a new chance to prove their innocence using DNA evidence under legislation the Senate tentatively approved Monday.

Defense attorneys fear the proposal does not go far enough.

The scientific testing would not be available to those who plead guilty, a move the defense lawyers argue shuts out those who confessed to crimes they didn't commit because they were intimidated by police or didn't think they could persuade a jury of their innocence.

If the proposal becomes law, it could set up another a showdown between lawmakers and the state Supreme Court. The Florida Bar has asked the justices to make the testing available to anyone through the rules of procedure they set for local judges.

Interest in giving inmates the chance to be cleared grew after DNA evidence showed Death Row inmate Frank Lee Smith did not commit the 1985 rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Fort Lauderdale. Smith died of cancer 11 months before his innocence was proven.

"While this is a step in the right direction, it is severely limiting and there will be a lot of cases missed because of it," said Bob Wills, Broward County's chief assistant public defender. "When we have this modern technology at our hands that can prove guilt or innocence, we should be willing to make it available to anyone. This is, after all, supposed to be a search for the truth."

The sponsor of the legislation, Sen. Alex Villalobos, said he went as far as possible because he originally thought lawmakers would offer the testing only to Death Row inmates. But he said he hoped to expand the testing in coming years to all inmates.

"This is as significant as when courts started using fingerprint evidence," said Villalobos, a Miami Republican and former prosecutor. A legislative analysis estimates up to 1,000 people serving time could use the testing as well as another 350 former prisoners.

The legislation would allow inmates to seek the DNA testing up to two years after they're convicted or at any time information comes up about the case that was not available during their trial. The testing can be used not only to exonerate inmates but reduce their sentences if the evidence shows they had less to do with the crime than once thought.

The proposal also expands state law enforcement's DNA database over the next five years to include blood tests of anyone convicted of a felony.

Other states -- including Michigan, Arizona, California and Illinois -- have adopted similar laws or are considering them in the wake of a renewed nationwide debate over the death penalty. Gov. Jeb Bush came out in support of allowing prisoners access to the DNA testing this year.

Smith's posthumous exoneration prompted a re-examination of DNA evidence in at least 11 murder cases in Broward. Those tests showed another man who served 21 years of several life sentences for six murders and a rape did not commit at least two killings.

The governor and the House must sign off on the legislation once the Senate gives its final approval. But civil-rights advocates are pinning their hopes on the Supreme Court to open tests to all prisoners.

Scott Wyman can be reached at swyman@sun-sentinel.com or 850-224-6214.